Chapter 161: Chaos in Jingzhou

Cao Xuan was a member of the royal family of the Former Wei Dynasty. Although he lived by copying books since childhood due to his poor family, he was a descendant of Emperor Xuan of the Wei Dynasty.

He is extremely filial to his mother and is well-known in the neighborhood.

Later, because of Empress Cao, he was granted the title of magistrate of Baqiu County.

After becoming an official, he governed the county very well. Among all the counties in Jingzhou, taxes were paid on time, and the people did not become refugees on a large scale and could barely survive, so that such results were outstanding in the annual evaluations.

Therefore, Ding Jingzhen knew that he could not win the support of the people because of his background, and that he would be controlled by others if he led his people to join Cao Yuanjing, so he directly planned to support an emperor himself.

The candidate was Cao Xuan, the magistrate of Baqiu County and descendant of Emperor Xuan of Wei.

Cao Xuan, who felt that wealth was falling on his head, agreed after some reluctance.

In mid-July, school lieutenants Ding Jingzhen and Lei Shimeng, and captains Zhang Wenxiu, Xu Xuan, Wan Zan, Xu Deji, and Guo Hua, kidnapped Changsha County Magistrate Pang Yuan and Linxiang County Magistrate Guo Jia, and together with Wuling tyrants Han Xiu and Qi Quan, announced a rebellion, enthroned Baqiu County Magistrate Cao Xuan as emperor, restored the "Great Wei" country, and named the era name Longfeng.

At this time, there were four emperors in the world, namely Murong Chao of "Great Yan", Murong Zan of "Western Yan", Cao Yuanjing of "Eastern Wei", and Cao Xuan of "Western Wei".

In contrast, Murong Zan of Western Yan entered Guanzhong first and captured Chang'an, while Cao Yuanjing of Eastern Wei captured Jianye. Both of them proclaimed themselves emperors after conquering the metropolis that once served as their capital.

The "Western Wei" side was determined to proclaim itself emperor from the beginning and raised the banner of anti-Yan. In fact, there was no other way. Originally, Cao Xuan planned to call himself "Duke of Wei" first, and then "King of Wei" after conquering Jiangling.

As for proclaiming oneself emperor, one must be cautious about this matter and not be too hasty.

But everyone around him advised him that Cao Yuanjing of Jianye in Jiangdong had already proclaimed himself emperor and claimed to be a relative of the Wei clan. You are a descendant of Emperor Xuan, and calling yourself "Duke of Wei" or "King of Wei" doesn't make you several levels lower than others?

Fortunately, he was proclaimed emperor in one step. Cao Xuan thought it made sense. After all, he was more noble than Cao Yuanjing in terms of bloodline, and he could not lose to him in terms of prestige. So, he was proclaimed emperor directly.

At the beginning of the uprising, it received a strong response from the people and local powerful people, and quickly seized all the counties of Changsha, Wuling and Guiyang.

The commander of the Dongting Lake navy, General Yingyang Langjiang You Zilu, also quickly changed his name and joined the newly established Wei Dynasty.

After having a navy, Ding Jingzhen, Lei Shimeng and others quickly recruited soldiers and expanded the team to tens of thousands of people based on their original team. Because the "Son of Heaven" Cao Xuan had a good reputation and high prestige in the Baqiu area, the common people and the powerful people flocked to him, and soon he organized an army of more than 20,000 people.

Afterwards, the armies were united, and Cao Xuan appointed Ding Jingzhen as the Grand Marshal, You Zilu as the Grand General, Lei Shimeng as the Grand General of Chariots and Cavalry, and Shen Liuxing, a local tyrant in Baqiu, as the Grand General of Cavalry. Han Xiu was appointed the Grand General of the Northern Expedition, Guo Hua as the Grand General of the Western Expedition, and Xu Deji as the Grand General of the Eastern Expedition.
In short, any leader who followed him to start a rebellion and was slightly more powerful would become a general.

After receiving the reward, the entire army marched westward along the Dajiang River and headed straight for Jiangling.

Nanjun Prefect Kuai Wenxian, standing on the top of Jiangling City, saw Cao Xuan's fleet approaching and the infantrymen camping for dozens of miles. He sighed and said, "These were my subordinates in the past. I never thought they would be so powerful now. Although Jiangling City is solid, it cannot withstand the unrest in the hearts of the people in the city and the 100,000 troops outside the city. Is the Great Yan still worthy of our loyalty?"

County Magistrate Xiang Gong said: "Although the Great Yan is already on the decline, does Cao Xuan really have the talent to revive the Great Wei?"

Kuai Wenxian said: "When the world was in chaos, heroes emerged. Now that Yan has lost its power, the world is chasing it, but who will be able to conquer the world is still unknown. Although I think that Tang Gong and his son are both heroes of the time, distant water cannot quench a nearby fire. Now Western Yan is eyeing Longyou, and people say that if you get Long, you will want Shu. Tang Gong must beware of Western Yan attacking Longxi, and Li Zhennan in Jianghuai must deal with the Wei thief Cao Yuanjing. The two nearest reinforcements cannot arrive, and it is nonsense to count on the court in Luoyang. Now Cao Xuan's army is besieging the city, so we might as well surrender temporarily and keep ourselves useful for the future."

Xiang Gong nodded his head in agreement. Neither of them had any intention of being loyal to the precarious Great Yan.

They chose to open the gate and surrender directly. After all, they were both from the great families of Jingxiang.

The Kuai family was a prominent family in Jingzhou, and Kuai Wenxian himself was a famous scholar in Jingzhou, so Cao Xuan was very happy when he learned that Kuai Wenxian had surrendered the city.

It was just a smile on my face.

"Hahahaha, Kuai Jun was our superior in the past. He has great prestige and is grateful to us. If he was still in Changsha, we wouldn't be able to come here. I should treat him with courtesy. Let's go and meet Kuai Jun."

Kuai Wenxian, along with his subordinates, opened the door directly, and presented the governor's seal to ask for surrender.

Cao Xuan and a group of generals came to accept the surrender in person. Cao Xuan took the seal and handed it to the attendant beside him. Then he helped Kuai Wenxian, who was bowing, up and said, "Kuai Jun, how are you?"

Kuai Wenxian said with a smile: "Your Majesty and I are no longer the same as we were before."

Cao Xuan was still very respectful and said, "When I was the magistrate of Baqiu County, I was very grateful to Kuai Jun for his care. Today, Cao is not talented, but I have the support of you gentlemen to revive the foundation of our ancestors. However, Ding Gong, Lei Gong, You Gong and others are all military generals and do not understand civil governance. If Kuai Jun is willing to help, Cao will be very grateful."

Seeing Cao Xuan's respectful attitude, Kuai Wenxian nodded slightly and said, "If you don't mind, I will serve you as a dog or horse."

Cao Xuan was overjoyed and said, "I have the help of Lord Kuai, just like how Emperor Gaodi met Marquis Liu and how Zhaolie met Marquis Wu. The king's cause can be accomplished and the Wei Dynasty can be revived."

"I, Kuai, would never dare to be compared with your majesty. I will only do my humble part to help your majesty."

Kuai Wenxian was also speechless. Not to mention that he was inferior to Zhang Liang and Zhuge Liang, he could not catch up with either of them. He still had some self-awareness.

That's beyond compare.

But what is even more speechless is that Cao Xuan compared himself to Liu Bei, let alone Liu Bang.

Although Liu Bei failed to unify the country and accomplish the great feat of restoring the Han Dynasty, all the ministers who followed him were treated well by him.

Who was it that allowed Zhao Yun, Wei Yan, Huang Zhong and other warriors with no background to go down in history?

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, two border warriors, have become the highest standard for describing brave generals in the past few hundred years. Who is responsible for this?
Even though the Wei Dynasty unified the country, Zhuge Liang still became a model of ministers for two hundred years. Who gave him this credit?
If he could really have a lord like Liu Bei, Kuai Wenxian would feel that it was all thanks to the good deeds of his ancestors and that he would be very lucky.

But I am afraid that the person in front of me, the Emperor of Wei, is as treacherous, suspicious, mean and ungrateful as his ancestor, Emperor Wu of Wei, Cao Mengde. That would be a misfortune for three lifetimes.
But for now, it's a good situation for everyone.

Kuai Wenxian also introduced his subordinates, Xiang Gong and others, to Cao Xuan.

Cao Xuan also encouraged everyone, and then asked Xiang Gong to lead the way and give him an overview of the city.

It was during this gap that Ding Jingzhen approached Kuai Wenxian, bowed and said, "Mr. Kuai, how are you?"

Kuai Wenxian returned the greeting and said, "General Ding is now a completely different person than he was before. He is now the most powerful official in the country."

Hearing this, Ding Jingzhen shook his head and smiled bitterly, saying, "Mr. Kuai's words really make Ding Mou feel ashamed."

Kuai Wenxian also helped Ding Jingzhen. If it weren't for him, Ding Jingzhen wouldn't even be able to be a lieutenant. So Ding Jingzhen was grateful to Kuai Wenxian.

"General Ding, you are now the Grand Marshal of Wei. During the Han and Wei dynasties, those who could hold the position of Grand Marshal were all famous and renowned, and their names were recorded in history. If General Ding wants to live up to the title, he needs to work harder and read more military books."

"Thank you for your teachings, Mr. Kuai. I have some doubts, so please let me know."

"Lord Kuai, are you really willing to join the Wei Dynasty and assist Emperor Cao?"

Ding Jingzhen also had doubts about whether Kuai Wenxian was truly surrendering. After all, not many people could accept such a psychological gap.

"Hahaha, whether it's sincere or not doesn't depend on me, but on the Emperor."

Kuai Wenxian replied with a smile, and Ding Jingzhen also understood the meaning of his words.

Whether it is sincere or not depends entirely on whether this emperor is worthy of it.

(End of this chapter)